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Thursday, October 4, 2012

I hope the point you won picking SMU made you feel dirty. Only one of you finished above the median of 10 for the week. I hope you're happy with yourselves.

The game most of us got wrong, after TCU, was the WVU vs. Baylor game. The spread was 11.5 which was in play the entire game. I can't wait until TCU goes against both of their defenses. I should probably be careful what I wish for, I know.

65 of us got UCLA over Colorado correct. How bad is Colorado? What did the Pac 12 see in them when they invited them to the conference?

Casey Pachall, he of the awesome decision making skills, has been suspended indefinitely by Gary Patterson after being arrested last night near TCU for a DWI. Pachall, who you may remember, was a key figure in the drug arrests earlier this year, and was charged to keep his nose (literally) clean this season. Welp...

The question of whether Pachall remains on the team will probably not be answered until all the facts are out, but it would be really hard to imagine that he plays again this season, and not out of the realm of possibility that his career as a Frog is essentially over. After all the flack that GP took this fall for not sitting him down when it came out that Casey had admitted to drug usage that went beyond pot, I can't even imagine what the blowback would be for his latest infraction. I am a big believer in second chances, but thirds, fourths, and beyond - when the program's rep has taken plenty of (bong) hits recently - is to much to stomach.

It's safe to say that we won't see #4 out on the field against the Cyclones Saturday, and that the Trevone Boykin era has effectively begun. As a fan, and a very proud alum, I couldn't be more disappointed/annoyed/angry/disgusted/pissed/et al than I feel right now. This feels worse than January - for Pachall to be so dumb after seeing what those other guys put the program through just a few months ago comes across as incredibly selfish. I totally get that college kids do dumb things and make mistakes - it wasn't THAT long ago that I was one, you have to expect to be held to a higher standard when you are the QB of a Top 15 team, especially one who put himself on the hot seat a couple times already. As talented as he is - and there's no question he could be a pro - he doesn't have the mindset to succeed, at least as far as we have seen. There are stories upon stories of uber talented athletes who end up out of the league and on the streets because of poor decision making - Pachall seems to be on the same path as Ryan Leaf, Jamarcus Russell, Tyrann Mathieu, etc. It's really too bad. Not just for us as fans, but for him as a person.

Gary Patterson has kept this program together and in the top 25 through improbable circumstances - arrests, injuries, a new conference - I trust him to make the best of this situation and have the team, especially the backfield - as ready as they can be. Boykin is going to be up and down, but he is as exciting an athlete at the QB position as there is anywhere. Don't turn your back on TCU, maybe we need to change our expectations for this year, but in GMFP We Trust, right?

Another week, another offensively challenged opponent for TCU. Seriously though, enjoy it while it lasts because once the meat of this schedule hits it won't come quite as easily for the TCU defense. In fact, it might not come as easily as Garrett Gilbert made it for our defensive backs (and John Koontz) for another few years or so. I thoroughly enjoyed watching him play catch with our defense, but I know that we probably won't see that again for a while. Iowa State is definitely no offensive juggernaut like we are going to see in the future, but they do play some pretty salty defense so we will no doubt have to improve on what we've done over the past few weeks offensively. Most of the playmakers on the Cyclones come from the defensive side of the ball, but I'll give it a shot and see if I can pick someone on offense that may make an impact on Saturday's ball game.

Offense: QB #2 Steele Jantz (6'3, 225 Sr.)

Faux hawk? Check. Chinstrap? Check.

For the first time this year, I'm picking the opposing team's Quarterback. I hate doing that, but when you look at their offensive production (or lack thereof) and where opponents are accumulating the most yardage against us, this was kind of an easy call. What made it even easier was that this guy has maybe one of the worst names in the Big 12. Steele Jantz? What are you, an American Gladiator?? Come on, bro. Surely you've got a better middle name than "Steele". Actually, upon further SnK inspection, this guy appears to be a doucher of the highest order, complete with a chinstrap beard and faux-hawk that would make the cast of Jersey Shore jealous. Steele probably isn't even his real name. It's probably something one of his hella gnarly Cali bros from Agoura Hills nicknamed him, you know, because he lays so much pipe and all (said in my most brah'd out voice possible). He started his career at the University of Hawaii before transferring to San Francisco City College. To be honest, I don't even care about this guy's stats. He's just the kind of guy that needs to be harassed every single time he walks back to the sidelines. Students, the few of you who remain in town this weekend, I look to you to try and piss this guy off so much that he turns to the crowd and sprays his Aqua Net right into your eyes. He's got to keep a can of it on the sidelines in order to keep his blow out in tact under that helmet. What a tell. Oh, and for the year he's 804 yards passing, 7 TD's and 7 INTs, so he's almost as giving as Garrett Gilbert. He probably really likes to throw picks just so he has a chance to chase down a dude and bear hug him to the ground. He's run for 78 yards and a score also, so he's kind of mobile I guess. To be honest, I wouldn't wanna tackle this guy. He'd probably love it. Anyways, sometimes the jokes write themselves, so here are a couple more photos of Steele...

Alright. I finally regrouped and quit laughing at their QB, so now I can focus on something that actually deserves to be taken seriously. Iowa State boasts not one, but 2 preseason All-Big 12 LB's with A.J. Klein and his counterpart #20 Jake Knott. Not surprisingly the two of them are 1 and 2 on the team in tackles so far this year as well, Knott leading the way with 31 to Klein's 30. Neither one of them have a sack to their name so far this year, so I don't expect them to be the guys that give Pachall trouble in that department, but they can both play both the run and the pass with a lot of success. If you thought running the ball was tough without Waymon James against UVA and SMU, then it should only be tougher against this duo. They've also both intercepted a pass and Klein took one back 87 yards for a score last week against the very meh Seth Doege, so Pachall will need to keep an eye out for them in the passing lanes as well. Knott has 2.5 tackles for loss this year to Klein's .5, so it appears that Knott is the more likely candidate to spoil our running game. Hopefully we will be able to put too much speed on the field and keep them chasing our slot receivers all around the lot, but it didn't stop them from getting a defensive TD against Tech, so we will see. Either way, neutralizing their tandem of LB's will be crucial to getting our offense back in gear again.